Axial dispersed plug flow model Peclet number

The length-based Peclet number (PeL) is determined with the axial dispersed plug flow model and it is defined as... 

Several parameters have been used to gather information about sample dispersion in flow analysis peak variance [109], time of appearance of the analytical signal, also known as baseline-to-baseline time [110], number of tanks in the tanks-in-series model [111], the Peclet number in the axially dispersed plug flow model [112], the Peclet number and the mean residence time in the diffusive—convective equation [113]. 

Determinations of Peclet number were carried out by comparison between experimental residence time distribution curves and the plug flow model with axial dispersion. Hold-up and axial dispersion coefficient, for the gas and liquid phases are then obtained as a function of pressure. In the range from 0.1-1.3 MPa, the obtained results show that the hydrodynamic behaviour of the liquid phase is independant of pressure. The influence of pressure on the axial dispersion coefficient in the gas phase is demonstrated for a constant gas flow velocity maintained at 0.037 m s. 

Identification of the experimental RTD curve by deconvolution of the two signals, to the plug flow model with axial dispersion Figure 3, allows access to residence time x and the Peclet number. 

Axial dispersion is negligible. Whether this assumption is valid, can be seen from the Peclet number uJJD) for typical conditions = 1 m/sec, L = 0.5 m) and laminar flow, the Peclet number is larger than 1000, and even for turbulent flow it will be much larger than 10. In laminar flow, the radial flow profile within a subchannel will also result in deviation from plug flow. The effect of this deviation can be estimated by comparing the predictions from different mathematical models, one of which takes the flow profile into account and the other of which assumes plug flow. 

Thermal axial dispersion must be treated with care. Even if axial dispersion of mass is negligible, the same may not be true for heat transport. The dispersion coefficient that appears in the thermal Peclet number is very different from the dispersion coefficient of the mass Peclet number. The combination of a plug-flow model for the mass balance and a dispersion... 

As the value of the Peclet number increases, the behavior of the axial dispersion model in fact approaches that of a plug flow model. As a result of this, it is possible to simplify... 

Dispersion Model An impulse input to a stream flowing through a vessel may spread axially because of a combination of molecular diffusion and eddy currents that together are called dispersion. Mathematically, the process can be represented by Fick s equation with a dispersion coefficient replacing the diffusion coefficient. The dispersion coefficient is associated with a linear dimension L and a linear velocity in the Peclet number, Pe = uL/D. In plug flow, = 0 and Pe oq and in a CSTR, oa and Pe = 0. 

Deviation from the ideal plug flow can be described by the dispersion model, which uses the axial eddy diffusivity (m s ) as an indicator of the degree of mixing in the flow direction. If the flow in a tube is plug flow, the axial dispersion is zero. On the other hand, if the fluid in a tube is perfectly mixed, the axial dispersion is infinity. For turbulent flow in a tube, the dimensionless Peclet number (Pe) deflned by the tube diameter (v dlE-Q is correlated as a function of the Reynolds number, as shown in Figure 10.3 [3] dz is the axial eddy diffusivity, d is the tube diameter, and v is the velocity of liquid averaged over the cross section of the flow channel. 

Although the model equation included the axial dispersion coefficient (Dl), plug flow was approximated by assigning a very large value to the Peclet number (uL/Dl). This is because the effect of axial dispersion is quite negligible in a small column and the model with the second derivatives can give more stable numerical results. 

As the Figure 8.12 reveals, the flow pattern deviates from plug flow. The residence time distribution function E(l) is calculated from the experimentally recorded responses, after which the F(t) function was obtained from integration of E(t). The experimental functions are compared to the theoretical ones. The expressions of E(t) and F(t) obtained from the analytical solution of the dynamic, non-reactive axial dispersion model with closed Danckwerts boundary conditions were used in comparison. A comparison of the results shown in Figure 8.12 suggests that a reasonable value for the Peclet number is Pe=3. 

If there is only one chemical reaction on the internal catalytic surface, then vai = — 1 and subscript j is not required for all quantities that are specific to the yth chemical reaction. When the mass transfer Peclet number which accounts for interpellet axial dispersion in packed beds is large, residence-time distribution effects are insignificant and axial diffusion can be neglected in the plug-flow mass balance given by equation (22-11). Under these conditions, reactor performance can be predicted from a simplified one-dimensional model. The differential design equation is... 

The following two models are frequently used to account for partial macromixing the dispersion model and the tanks-in-series model. In the dispersion model, deviation from plug flow is expressed in terms of a dispersion or effective axial diffusion coefficient. This model was anticipated in Chapter 12, and the governing equations for mass and heat are listed in Table 12.2 of that chapter. The derivation is similar to that for plug flow except that now a term is included for diffusive flow in addition to that for bulk flow. This term appears as -D ( d[A]/d ), where is the effective axial diffusion coefficient. When the equation is nondimensionalized, the diffusion coefficient appears as part of the Peclet number defined as = itd/D. A number of correlations for predicting the Peclet number for both liquids and gases in fixed and fluidized beds are available and have been reviewed by Wen and Fan (1975). 

Other models to characterize residence time distributions are based on fitting the measured distribution to models for a plug flow with axial dispersion or for series of continuously ideally stirred tank reactors in series. For the first model the Peclet number is the characteristic parameter, for the second model the number of ideally stirred tank reactors needed to fit the residence time distribution typifies the distribution. However, these models should be used with care because they assume a standard distribution in residence times. Most distributions in extruders show a distinct scewness, which could lead to erroneous results at very short and very long residence times. The only exception is the co-kneader the high amount of back mixing in this type of machine leads to a nearly perfect normal distribution. 

The assumption of plug flow is not always correct. The plug flow assumes that the convective flow (flow by velocity q/A, = v, caused by a compressor or pump) is dominating over any other transport mode. In fact, this is not always correct, and it is sometimes important to include the dispersion of mass and heat driven by concentration and temperature gradients. However, the plug flow assumption is valid for most industrial units because of the high Peclet number. We will discuss this model in some detail, not only because of its importance but also because the techniques used to handle these two-point boundary-value differential equations are similar to that used for other diffusion-reaction problems (e.g., catalyst pellets) as well as countercurrent processes and processes with recycle. The analytical analysis as well as the numerical techniques for these systems are very similar to this axial dispersion model for tubular reactors. 

This simply assumes that axial dispersion (D m. s ) is superimposed onto plug flow. Axial dispersion may be caused by a velocity profile in the radial direction or statistical dispersion in a packing or turbulent diffusion or by any physicochemical process which delayes some particles with respect to others. The model parameter is the axial PECLET number, Pe = uL/D, or its reciprocal, the dispersion number, D /uL. Depending on the boundary conditions assumed at the reactor inlet and outlet (which are different from those of the simple assumptions above), a lot of mathematical formulae can be found in the literature for the RTD [3]. This is often academic as in the range of usefulness of the model (small deviation from plug flow, say Pe > 20) all conditions lead to res-... 

The model results indicate that the extent of reaction increases when reactor length increases on the other hand, the extent of reaction decreases when liquid superficial velocity increases. This occurs because the residence time is indirectly affected, which impacts directly the reaction rate due to the change of liquid holdup. It was also concluded that the increase in Peclet number makes the behavior of the reactor come close to that of a plug-flow reactor, with no axial dispersion. This permits the solid particles to be exposed to the same liquid concentration that will conduct the same reactor rate along the reactor. 

---